Hold My Hand
by KymanLover
Summary: Cartman gets injured after getting in a fight. Wendy's there to lend a helping hand. Lip-Smacking piece of Candy! R&R? xxx


**Theme 35: Hold My Hand**

"_Ow!"_ Eric hissed loudly as he felt the freezing ice pack brush against his skin.

"Stay still!"

He carried on wincing as the pack was held firmly against his knuckles, his face crumpling at the pain, "I swear, the next time, –_ahh_- the next time I see that fucking Jew I'm gonna kill him…"

Eric Cartman was sitting on the bed in the nurse's office, his hands stretched in front of him, his flesh raw, dried blood surrounding the fresh wounds adorning the knuckles on his right hand. Both his hands were burning at the pain, his fingers pulsating as his skin inflamed. He could barely bend his fingers at the pain, but the woman nursing his wounds didn't appear to show any signs of sympathy towards the heavy-set teenager.

"Come on, Eric. We all know you were the one who started it. Kyle didn't do anything that wasn't in self defense."

"Have you not seen my hands? He's a freaking monster!"

About half an hour earlier at the beginning of lunch, there had been an argument. Well, actually, it had seemed to be more of an all-out war. And who was it between? Eric Cartman and Kyle Broflovski, of course.

Those two boys, who had been 'sort-of-friends' since they were in diapers, were always at each other's throats. There was rarely a day that passed that didn't include at least a small disagreement between the two; it was common nature. A routine that had to always be fulfilled. They were never truly angry at each other, though. Severely irritated, yes, but relentlessly enraged, no. It was just something they always did, it was their 'thing'. For two extremely stubborn and feisty people, it wasn't that hard to believe that their best way to communicate was whilst crossly debating with each other.

But today had been different. It wasn't one of their normal spats, it was much worse. Whilst they were crowded together outside, the atmosphere was obviously tense. It didn't take long for something to be said which lead to the two boys arguing. But that was normal, so people dismissed it. That was until they saw Eric swing for Kyle's jaw, anyway. Nobody really knew what had been done or said to get him to do such a thing, but after he had done so, Kyle had immediately retaliated, both boys crimson in anger; their fists clenched as they punched at each other. As they screamed at each other, their jabs becoming more forceful and less coordinated, Kyle had ducked away swiftly causing the larger (in both physique and height) boy to punch straight into the brick wall behind where the boy had been standing and scream out in pain at the powerful impact.

'Go on, Kyle!' 'Yeah, kick his ass, Ky!'

Everyone cheered the small redhead who stood seething behind Eric, his large green eyes now narrowed as he stared at the boy in front of him. Instead of 'kicking his ass' however, he let out an annoyed sigh and stormed off in the opposite direction, his best friend speeding after him.

"Kyle didn't do that, that's your fault for hitting the wall-"

"Why are you taking his fucking side?" Eric growled loudly, whipping his hands quickly away from the dainty fingers that had been holding the ice to his skin, but immediately regretting it as he winced in pain, "It's not like he's ever done anything for you. In fact, he's done nothing but get in your way. You should fucking hate him."

"I'm not taking sides, Eric," she sighed quietly, perching on the bed next to the large boy, taking his hands in hers as she again pressed the frozen packet against them, "And I don't hate Kyle."

"Wendy, that asshole has done nothing but cause shit for you since you first met him!"

"No he hasn't," the dark haired girl spoke gently, her voice soft as she delicately dabbed at the skin on Eric's sore hands.

"Really? So every time he is always that one person that does better than you in exams it doesn't annoy you? It doesn't bother you that Stan's always blowing you off to go and hang out with the stupid Jew instead of you? And you don't care at all that even your supposed best friend can't stop ogling his ass long enough to even acknowledge your own presence when he's around you both?"

Wendy sat silently, considering the harsh words she had just heard the boy say. What he was stating was true; she had reflected on all of these events in her mind many times. Whenever they had a big exam and she would go in there fully prepared and confident after weeks of nonstop studying, she would always end up disappointed when they got the results and she found out that she was top of the class- bar one. And that one would always be none other than Kyle Broflovski. There was also the fact that whenever she tried to go to her boyfriend for comfort, he would be too busy congratulating his 'super best friend' to notice her. And Bebe. Well Bebe was Bebe. She often spent more time than most staring at guys, but when it came to Kyle, it was like all other parts of her brain shut down completely, only one small piece functioning allowing her to fully concentrate on that forbidden piece of ass that she had never been able to claim as 'hers'.

"You see? You know what I'm talking about. Kahl's a fucking dickhead; You should kick his scrawny little ass one day."

"I think there's been enough ass kicking for one day, Eric," she sighed, holding the ice tighter against his podgy fingers before looking curious, "What exactly were you fighting about anyway?"

Eric's face tinted slightly before looking away, fidgeting in his place, "Nothing…"

Her eyebrows arched, "It doesn't look like nothing."

"It's Kahl. Do I need a reason? We're always fighting, it's no big deal…"

Wendy craned her neck so that she could see the anxious look on the boy's face before speaking quietly, "What was it about, Eric?"

"Where's the normal fucking nurse? She doesn't ask so many questions!" he scowled, staring at the door.

"She's not going to be back for a while; that's why I'm here. And if you just answer my question then I can stop asking," she sighed lightly.

"Whatever. It…" he glanced at her before looking away again as she nodded at him encouragingly, "It was about…you."

He felt her hands grip tighter around the ice pack as he grimaced, the tender skin burning at the forced contact, "What about me?"

"Well, I don't think-"

"What about me, Eric?" she demanded, her ever-tightening grip causing his hand to throb in agony.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you, bitch! Just stop squeezing my hand!" he let out a sigh of relief as she instantly dropped it down, the release of pressure causing him to feel more at ease, "We were talking about our plans for the weekend and Stan commented on how he was free because he didn't have you there to make him do 'stupid shit' anymore, since you broke up," he saw her head drop sullenly but continued, "Kahl said something about Stan spending too much time with you anyway and then…" his voice trailed off.

"And then what? What has that got to do with you?" she lifted her head with a frown as they sat in silence.

"And then… I said to Stan that spending time with you was much better than with the fucking Jew and they both got angry at that but me and Kahl carried on arguing until Kyle brought up an old memory that pissed me off… and that's why I swung at him. It was totally provoked, it wasn't my fault…" he sighed loudly, making an attempt to bend his battered fingers.

Wendy listened intently, trying to understand the situation, "What memory…?" she eventually whispered.

Eric stayed silent as he stared at the ground in front of him. He didn't want to tell her. He didn't want to admit that Kyle had brought up memories of when he and Wendy had been on the same team during the flag debate in town and how the redhead had known that ever since that incidence the larger boy had always had a secret crush on her that only his Jewish friend knew about.

What was it that made him fantasize about her so often? Was it the way her pale skin contrasted with the natural pinkness of her cheeks? The way her smile would bring hope and her laughter would bring joy? The way her silky black hair would tumble down on her shoulders, swishing back and forth with each step she took, her hips swinging in time? The way she showed immense passion with everything she did, no matter how big or small? It was all those things. All those things and more.

But how did Kyle know? Nobody else did. 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,' had been his response when Eric had first confronted him on it. Cartman had sworn the other to secrecy, but on this day he had nearly let the secret slip and so the larger boy had seen no other way to silence him but to punch him straight in the jaw. No one could know. Not now, at least.

"Eric?" she sighed as she again got no response, "Okay, you don't want to tell me. Fine. Do you want me to get you a bandage for your hand?"

He glanced down at the petite noirette at his side, her hands folded in her lap as she stared into his eyes questioningly. All he wanted to do was to bend down, take her chin in his hands and place his lips upon hers and nothing else would matter. Everything that had happened that day would all be a thing of the past. But it wasn't the past. It was the present.

Eric nodded his head silently, returning his gaze to the tiled floor beneath his feet. He felt Wendy brush past him slowly and watched as she rummaged around in the first aid box searching for some gauze to wrap his throbbing hand. She sighed softly as she found it, taking it our and returning to the bed.

"Put your hand back out," she smiled warmly at him as he tentatively outstretched his hand towards her.

The soft material brushed gently across his skin as she wound it securely around his knuckles. She was humming a quiet tune to herself as she did so, causing a small smile to tug at the corners of Eric's mouth as he endured the seemingly never ending bolts of pain shooting through his body as she tightened the fastening of the gauze.

"There. Is that better now?" she kept her hands around his, waiting for a response whilst she smiled in his direction.

He glanced at her thin fingers placed delicately on top of his now bandaged hand and slinked his own fingers into the gaps of hers, "Yeah. Much better."

Maybe it was alright if he let her know how he felt about her. Maybe. But for now, he just enjoyed the small bit of contact he had with her before she started asking questions again.

**A/N: Hello Candy lovers! (and hello non-Candy lovers, you also receive my acknowledgment)**

**So here's a small little one-shot I quickly wrote up. It's not much, but I felt like I needed to upload and so here's what I came up with!**

**I love Kyle. So he had to get put in there. Sorry.**

**Please review though, guys, they make me happy. The box is like, just down there, so handily waiting for you to type in it (and then click send or whatever, because without that it would be a bit useless, right?) **

**So please?**

**^.^**

**XXX**


End file.
